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Why EVs Are ‘Piling Up’ at Dealerships, Despite Massive Taxpayer Subsidies
Headline USA ^ | July 27, 2023 | Staff

Posted on 07/28/2023 12:12:29 PM PDT by Red Badger

(By Jon Miltimore, FEE) Ford Motor recently announced it is slashing prices on its F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle the company rolled out in 2021.

The Lightning now carries a suggested retail price of $49,995, about $10,000 lower than its previous recommended price tag ($59,974), a reduction the company says is possible because of lower “battery raw material costs and continued work on scaling production and cost.”

It’s certainly possible that reduced overhead from battery minerals and production costs played a role in Ford’s decision to trim its price tag by nearly 20%, but that may be only half the story.

Several reports show EVs are not exactly flying off dealership lots. In fact, there’s a glut of them.

“After a prolonged period in which EVs quickly disappeared from dealerships, the electric vehicle industry now has the opposite problem: unsold models are piling up,” reported Money last week. “About 92,000 EVs currently sit on dealers’ lots; that’s a 342% increase from a year ago, when only about 21,000 did so, according to automotive research firm Cox Automotive.”

Ford is not immune from the weakened demand for EVs. Sales of its flagship car, the Mustang Mach-E, have slumped, down 44 percent in May from the same month last year.

The Lightning, which won the title of EV king of pickup trucks after Ford moved nearly 16,000 units in 2022, has fared better but is still struggling to keep pace with 2022. And now the company is facing some stiff new competition. (More on that in a minute.)

This was not the scenario many people predicted.

In April, the International Energy Agency released a report in which it predicted EV sales to increase 35 percent after a record-breaking year. But economists I spoke with said such predictions were overly optimistic considering current macroeconomic conditions.

This invites important questions. Is the glut of EVs simply a product of tightened money supply?

Apparently not. As Axios noted, the 92,000 EVs currently sitting on lots is comparatively high relative to gasoline-powered cars.

“That’s a 92-day supply — roughly three months’ worth of EVs, and nearly twice the industry average,” wrote Joann Muller. “For comparison, dealers have a relatively low 54 days’ worth of gasoline-powered vehicles in inventory….”

In other words, dealerships are sitting on a lot more EVs than gasoline-powered vehicles—despite efforts to entice consumers to buy EVs with taxpayer-funded credits up to $7,500.

This is evidence that pretty much everyone—from central planners to auto manufacturers—misjudged the demand for EVs, which are not even as environmentally friendly as politicians would have you believe.

Not only do EVs require an astonishing amount of mining—an estimated 500,000 pounds of rock and minerals must be upturned to make a single battery, physicists point out—but their carbon footprint isn’t much smaller than gas-powered cars.

It turns out that EVs actually require a lot more CO2 to produce than gas-powered cars. EVs can make that up, but it takes a great deal of time because EVs also often run on electricity generated from fossil fuels. Just how long? In 2021, Volvo admitted that its C40 Recharge has to be driven 70,000 miles before its carbon impact is lower than its gas-powered version.

All of this is to say that a bunch of unused EVs isn’t just a financial headache for auto dealers and motor companies; it’s also an environmental problem.

That said, the weaker than expected demand for EVs doesn’t mean the future of electric vehicles is doomed. On the contrary, demand for EVs is likely to increase as battery technology and EV infrastructure improves. Ford’s Lightning, for example, only has half the range of its gas-powered F-150 because of its small battery—a clear concern when charging stations are not yet readily available in many places.

For now, however, motor companies are competing with one another to attract customers in a smaller than anticipated EV market. Which brings me to Elon Musk.

Tesla last week rolled out its much-hyped Cybertruck, which is a direct challenge to the Lightning, and likely played a role in Ford’s price cut.

Federal lawmakers may have created a glut of EVs with their meddling, and it’s likely to have an adverse impact on both the auto market and the environment. But one of the virtues of capitalism is that consumers will ultimately decide who wins in the EV market and who loses.

Whether that turns out to be Musk’s Cybertruck or Ford’s Lightning remains to be seen. Either way, the competition is bringing down prices, which is a win for consumers looking to purchase an EV.

But the glut of electrical vehicles on the market reveals the danger in letting lawmakers decide what consumers should be driving.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; History; Society; Travel
KEYWORDS: automotive; electric; ev; evsales; sales
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To: rbg81

EVs may be perfect for the dopes that live inside the DC beltway but get away from there or travel from there any distance and the EV’s shortcomings become crystal clear.

Remember, each one of those POS is garnering a tax credit also.

Lastly, they are putting out of work a good number of assemblers. For instance, they have far fewer parts.

Anyway, I don’t play golf so I don’t need a 50+K golf cart.


61 posted on 07/28/2023 1:59:23 PM PDT by Mouton (US Home to one party rule)
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To: Red Badger
"Ship charter company "K" Line said on Friday that there were 3,783 vehicles on board the ship - including 498 battery electric vehicles, significantly more than the 25 initially reported."

LOL! I guess the 25 lie went up in smoke.

62 posted on 07/28/2023 1:59:45 PM PDT by Fresh Wind (Faux News: "We distort, you deride")
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To: Mouton

I read with all the govt subsidies available in parts of California, you can buy a new $40,000 Tesla for 13 grand. So no wonder they’re a good seller in that state.

https://electrek.co/2023/07/24/brand-new-tesla-model-3-less-than-14000-california/


63 posted on 07/28/2023 2:02:02 PM PDT by nascarnation (Let's go Brandon!)
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To: Red Badger

Wait until the super cheap Chinese EVs arrive - they can’t even give them away in China.


64 posted on 07/28/2023 2:04:04 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: PIF

They won’t qualify for the govt subsidies, so I doubt they economics will favor importing them.


65 posted on 07/28/2023 2:06:41 PM PDT by nascarnation (Let's go Brandon!)
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To: nascarnation

They have miles and miles with blocks of 10,000 on each lot.

Cost of shipping, plus dealer mark up, so call it an even $5,000 each.

See article on today’s FR.


66 posted on 07/28/2023 2:10:47 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: Red Badger
Sales of its flagship car, the Mustang Mach-E....

You mean its only car, right?

67 posted on 07/28/2023 2:11:23 PM PDT by AlaskaErik (There are three kinds of rats: Rats, Damned Rats, and DemocRats.)
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To: G Larry
EVs are very expensive grocery getters, because there are insufficient charging stations for folks to risk on family vacations or any trip over 200 miles.

There are so many variables to each person's needs, including driving on trips. Our EV works fine for us, including trips. But they should be a free market thing.

In the year we've owned our EV in Alabama we've taken it on trips to Texas (600 mile one way) and back, Florida (270 miles) and back, Louisiana (350 miles) and back, East Tennessee (150 miles) and back, etc. without once having to wait in line for a charger. But admittedly this is probably an ideal location and may not work as well in other regions.

One reason this is an ideal location is the eastern portion of the U.S. is densely populated enough to have more chargers than probably Wyoming or West Texas or such. So just about any trip we'd make that's close enough to not fly is probably a trip that'd have plenty of chargers. Another reason is that here in the south we don't get the cold winters that reduce range. Another thing that's good about an EV in Alabama is that most EV owners here live in homes and charge at home. Therefore, the road-side chargers aren't being used by locals who live in apartments. Therefore, the road-side chargers we use on our trips don't have waiting lines like the road-chargers in urban areas (where local apartment renting EV owners have to charge along with the travelers). Imagine how few people would be at your local gas station if the only people there were the out-of-towners because the locals could fill up at home. That's what it's like at the EV charging stations we've been at on trips in the southeast, at least so far. I'm sure that's not the case for some areas.

68 posted on 07/28/2023 2:13:57 PM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: MtnClimber

That’s funny.


69 posted on 07/28/2023 2:16:06 PM PDT by crusty old prospector
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To: Red Badger

I’ll never buy one.

I’ll pick up an old pre-1974 vehicle… I’ll fix it up and drive it till the wheels fall off. Then I’ll fix it up and drive it some more.


70 posted on 07/28/2023 2:37:26 PM PDT by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: Red Badger

People don’t want EVs.

PEOPLE WANT GAS ENGINE CARS.


71 posted on 07/28/2023 2:42:54 PM PDT by Pearfect
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To: Red Badger

This is easy to figure out.
When you want a reliable car, you buy a Toyota or Honda.
When you want a reliable EV, you get a Tesla.
When you want to a car w problems, you buy something from Detroit.
When you want a care with LOTS of problems, you get an EV from Detroit.


72 posted on 07/28/2023 2:46:24 PM PDT by Zathras
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To: Red Badger
Sales of its flagship car, the Mustang Mach-E, have slumped,

Well, could be because it's an ugly car that looks nothing like a Mustang.

73 posted on 07/28/2023 3:21:48 PM PDT by hattend (F U Pedo Joe.)
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To: Red Badger

As we have talked about before - they are not ready for primetime - one day they may very well be. But that time is not now. They are impractical - long times for recharging as opposed to refueling, dangerous batteries prone to catch fire, the batteries are extraordinarily expensive to replace when needed, and sometimes cannot be replaced at all due to lack of standardization in the industry for these types of batteries.

The subsidies need to be eliminated and allow them to go back to normal research and development with an eye towards them being able to stand on their own reaching economies of scale, practicality to consumers, etc.


74 posted on 07/28/2023 3:55:28 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Red Badger

It’s ironic that the effort to hike gas prices to encourage Americans to buy EVs caused the inflation that made EV prices too high to purchase. Next they will hire 80,000 thugs to go around and arrest people who haven’t bought an EV—anything for the Climate Change God.


75 posted on 07/28/2023 4:07:40 PM PDT by jonrick46 (Leftniks chase illusions of motherships at the end of the pier.)
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To: G Larry

Use chains.


76 posted on 07/28/2023 4:57:48 PM PDT by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: Red Badger
"...one of the virtues of capitalism is that consumers will ultimately decide who wins in the EV market and who loses."

Where can we get some of this "capitalism" where the consumer decides what is best for him or her? I count on our government to tell me what is best for me. Maybe the government can help me sort out the 549 different types of toothpaste at the market.

77 posted on 07/28/2023 5:02:26 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (We are proles, they are nobility.)
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To: Ben Dover

“...and it’s not safe from theft keeping them outside”.

You have come up with a solution to a problem.


78 posted on 07/28/2023 5:32:54 PM PDT by Cold Heart
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To: Red Badger

Because democrats are assholes and don’t deserve The United States of America.


79 posted on 07/28/2023 5:59:22 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true . . . I have no proof, but they're true.)
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To: Red Badger

How long until EV owners are calling for the the forgiveness of their auto loans? The notion is too absurd to ignore.
I think you know what I mean.


80 posted on 07/28/2023 7:08:39 PM PDT by Honest Nigerian
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